Raef: Everywhere
This vignette follows this NSFW scene. Content Warning: Mild hints of torture, blood, pain. Day: 405 __ Sweat dripped to the stone floor, cool blue against sharp black before vanishing as the stone sapped away its heat. The blood was slower to cool. Bright spots of red and orange littered the floor around him It would have been pretty if it wasn’t coming from him. “Get up.” He shook his head. More sweat and blood splattered around him. “Get. Up!” Again he shook his head. No. Getting up was death. Maybe kneeling here was death, too. Death was everywhere he looked. A disdainful smirk twisted his lips. What a life he had. What a bloody life. Pain flared sharply from fingers twisting into his hair, jerking his head back. “I said ‘Get up’,” Zak snarled low. He glared down through narrowed, red eyes that nearly glowed in the oranges and purples of his face. He grunted, gasping. Each breath was agony through the broken ribs and torn muscles. He swallowed thickly. Another ragged gasp broke through. “No.” ~*~ “You should have gotten up.” “I didn’t feel like dying.” Aster snorted. “You almost died.” “But I didn’t.” Rook winked, chuckling then wincing. Ow. Everything still hurt. His breath hitched when Aster only added to that by smoothing a cool balm over his chest. “Don’t be a child. That didn’t hurt.” “Everything hurts.” “Maybe you should’ve gotten up.” Aster rolled his eyes. He smiled. He was beautiful when he smiled. Not as beautiful as the beast that filled his dreams every night, but still beautiful. “You know it’s rude to stare.” Rook grinned. “You like it.” “When did I say that?” Aster pressed back a smile. He set the bowl aside to grab several pieces of precut gauze and wrappings. “Mmm…I think you said it the other day.” His grin widened. “When I was –” “Shh!” Bright red flared in Aster’s face and he clapped a hand over Rook’s mouth. “Someone will hear.” Rook caught the hand over his mouth, slid his fingers along the slender digits, over the back of his hand, and kissed Aster’s palm. He pulled the hand away. “No one’s around.” He pushed Aster’s hand to his chest. “No one will see.” He pushed it lower, down over his bare stomach, towards the sheet that was the only thing hiding him. “No one will hear.” Now he guided Aster’s hand under the sheet, studying the healer’s face. He was bright with the blood filling his face, but that wasn’t the only place growing warm. “Rook – we’ll be caught…” The words were soft, hitched. His hand tightened. “That’s the fun.” ~*~ “You had a dream again.” “Yes.” “He’s a monster.” “I know.” “Then –” “I know.” ~*~ “Kill him.” “No.” A whip cracked. Pain arched through him, spindling out in tendrils of lightning. “You are a tool, Rook. You do not own the word ‘no’.” “Fuck you.” Rook spat a thick wad of blood and saliva at Zak. Missed. That was probably a good thing. Maybe Zak would have ended his life (death everywhere). A smile tugged again. The whip cracked again. ~*~ “…''Rook''…” He drew in a ragged breath. The name was distant. It wasn’t his. Someone was calling him. His brow furrowed. His back hurt. His chest hurt (his heart hurt). Everything hurt. “…''my love''…''Rook…''” The words were growing closer, brighter. A beacon in the darkness. He reached out a hand – “Raef!” His eyes snapped open. The deep, heavy pain faded away. His back hurt, but with the sharp stings of claws and teeth. “My love, you were dreaming.” Anwyll’s golden eyes were filled with worry, with concern. They were beautiful, more beautiful than – than – the name danced away from him. “Anwyll.” Even to his ears he sounded surprised. Raef glanced down to where his hand rested on Anwyll’s chest, feeling it rise and fall. Beneath that was the low thrum of a steady heartbeat. Anwyll cupped Raef’s chin, smoothing his cheek with a thumb. “You’re scaring me. What happened?” Raef opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Nothing could. He pushed himself up to break the distance, to catch Anwyll’s lips with his, to press against him, to draw him in. He felt like a dying man holding onto the one thing that could save him. (…death everywhere…) And maybe he was. Category:Vignettes Category:Raef